Roosevelt 31, Madison 14 (fourth quarter)

Roosevelt wins 31-14, further muddying the District 26-5A playoff race. More in tomorrow’s paper and online at Mysa.com later tonight.

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Roosevelt tacks on a field goal with 3:15 to lead 31-14. Heading to the field momentarily for interviews so the next update probably won’t be until 10-15 minutes after the game.

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Questionable no-call here as Madison’s third-down pass sails incomplete, but a defenseless receiver was leveled afterward. The Madison coaches went nuts in the press box with the no call. The Mavericks will pnt from their own 21 with 6:36 left.

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Madison forces a punt and gets the ball back with about 8 minutes left. The Mavericks need a score here if they’re going to challenge for a comeback.

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That’s the end of the fourth … Madison with a fourth-and-7 from its own 37 as the fourth quarter begins.

Score remains Roosevelt 28, Madison 14.

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Potential game-changing play turned in by Madison with 1:58 left in the third quarter. Madison’s Jay Deiorio intercepts Sean Alonzo on a double reverse pass. The interception came a play after Amos Lozano’s interception was called back because of a pass-interference penalty.

Roosevelt still leads 28-14.

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And back come the Mavericks.

Madison’s Aaron Green took a toss left for an untouched 37-yard score to cut Roosevelt’s lead to 28-14 with 3:06 left in the third quarter. On the play, Green took the toss, danced a little in the backfield and was off to the races.

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Another fumble, this time from Roosevelt. Madison’s Jay Deiorio recovered Armstrong’s fumble at its own 24-yard line.

Score still Roosevelt 28, Madison 7, with 6:30 left in the third quarter.

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Madison fumbles again, this time an Aaron Green giveaway while running out of the Wildcat. Dominique Davison returned it 70 yards for a touchdown, but the score was negated because of a clip on the return. Still, Roosevelt gets the ball at midfield.

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Not much to say here right now other than that Roosevelt has simply taken it at Madison in every way possible all half. The Rough Riders have run the ball with success, they’ve passed it for big plays and they have played a relentless defensive effort, save Aaron Green’s one TD scamper.

Madison is getting pushed around defensively and its offense has found no rythym. Cortez hasn’t been able to connect with Askew and the running game has produced just about as many negative runs as positive ones.

The good news for the Mavericks is that they can score in bunches and do so in a hurry. The bad news? So too can Roosevelt, it appears.

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The half almost ends in disaster for Madison, as QB Kevin Cortez rolled left to set up a Hail Mary attempt but was leveled, jarring the ball loose. A Roosevelt defender picked it up and went running the other way but it was ruled an incomplete pass instead of a fumble.

Roosevelt 28-7, halftime.

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Madison is going to try to make the final seconds interesting — again. Given the Mavericks’ lateral-for-a-touchdown from a few weeks back, you know Roosevelt is expecting anything here with the Mavericks set up at the Roosevelt 41-yard line with seven seconds left in the half.

Green ran 19 yards on the previous play to set up this play here.

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Roosevelt capitalizes on another Madison turnover, this time scoring on a 10-yard hookup from Haywood to Darrien Shelton with 15 seconds left in the half. A 2-point try was successful (Haywood found Delvage McIntyre on a drag route) to lead 28-7.

The TD catch was a corner route in which Shelton went airborne to haul in.

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Madison forces a three-and-out but promptly gives the ball back to Roosevelt as Stephan Vaneau makes a diving interception off a deflection. Vaneau is having an unbelievable half, as he also has a pair of blow-up-the-running-back tackles for loss.

Roosevelt leads 20-7 with about two minutes left in the half.

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Oddly quiet until now, Madison’s Aaron Green burst through the middle of the line and, aided by several dazzling cuts, went 62 yards to cut Roosevelt’s lead to 20-7.

Prior to that run, Green had eight carries for nine yards.

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Roosevelt giveth and then it taketh away. Moments after coughing up the football, Roosevelt’s Leland Young scooped up a Troy Williams fumble and took it 67 yards for a touchdown. A personal foul after the play forced a 35-yard PAT, which was no good, leaving Roosevelt’s lead at 20-0.

What an upset in the making.

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Madison gets a major break with 6:46 left in the half. Trailing 14-0, they forced Roosevelt QB Devin Haywood to cough up the football. Madison takes over near midfield.

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And the Mavericks go three-and-out.

They unsuccessfully went deep to Nate Askew on first down, then tried their rendition of the “Wildcat” with Aaron Green handing off to Troy Williams for a 1-yard loss. A third-down pass skipped off a receiver’s finger tips.

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Roosevelt is taking it to Madison, and it has done it the old-fashioned way — by running right down the Mavericks’ interior.

Haywood just capped off a nine-play, 63-yard drive with a 3-yard score on a QB keeper with 9:03 left in the second quarter. The Rough Riders ran on all nine plays, including twice on third down (third-and-7 and third-and-4).

Madison desperately needs to get something going here if it is going to keep pace with the surging Rough Riders.

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Not a good start for Madison so far. Two possessions, two punts. And Roosevelt — after a 22-yard scamper by QB Devin Haywood on a zone-read keeper — is positioned at the Madison 35-yard line with about a minute left in the opening quarter.

Madison needs a defensive stop here or it could be looking at an early two-possession deficit.

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Wow, wow, wow.

Roosevelt takes a 7-0 lead on a wild, 47-yard touchdown run from Brandon Armstrong. Armstrong burst up the middle for what appeared to be about a 30-yard run down to the 17-yard line. He was spun to the ground, but fell on top of a defender’s body and popped right back up and went racing to the end zone for the TD.

Though he appeared down, since Armstrong fell on top a Mavericks player the play remained live. Madison looked confused as the referees ran with Armstrong to the end zone and eventually raised their hands for the score.

The drive, which began at the Roosevelt 9, also featured a 39-yard hookup between Devin Haywood and Delvage McIntyre.

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Madison was about to go for it on fourth-and-2 from the Roosevelt 33, but a Maverick false starts and they’re forced to punt. Still scoreless with 8:23 left in the opening quarter.

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We’re about 40 minutes until kickoff before tonight’s important District 26-5A battle between No. 2 Madison and 10th-ranked Roosevelt. Madison is 5-1 in district and has a chance to clinch a playoff berth tonight. Meanwhile, Roosevelt is 3-3 and is in desperate need of a victory to stay alive in the league’s crowded playoff race.

The obvious angle entering the game would appear to be which team shows up for both squads. Roosevelt snapped out of a three-game skid last week, and did so in highly impressive fashion against MacArthur. But the Rough Riders looked anything but like a well-oiled machine during their three straight losses.

Madison’s season hasn’t been full of nearly as many valleys, but the Mavericks haven’t always looked crisp in compiling their 5-1 league mark. But when they’re on, boy are they on.